Fall Football...

Jake and I enjoyed the BYU vs. Utah State football game last weekend :-) It was fun to see how "excited" fans got - Jake and I had a hard time not laughing at some of the comments we heard. And here is a lovely picture of the two of us at half time...

New Home...

I moved up to Ogden last week to be closer to school and work. The 3 minutes commute to class (15 if I'm walking) and 8 minute commute to work is absolutely divine! This is my cute little house...

Isn't is just so quaint?! I have one roommate, her name is Madi - she's been great! We each have our own room and lots of empty space. I'll take you on a quick walk through...

This is our very empty front room. I will eventually buy some furniture for here, but I spent enough on my own room this month so it will just have to wait. Also, be prepared for very barren walls... art needs to be purchased.

Next we have our nice white kitchen complete with empty cupboards. Madi and I really only use 2 cupboards and 3 drawers... Our old wooden table is behind me in this picture as well as a washer and dryer! Right on site! Hoorah!

 Here we have our newly remodeled bathroom. It's actually quite nice. My only complains are the nonexistent counter top (how is a girl suppose to get ready?? although this does help keep it clean... hmm...) and the fact that the fan turns on when the light turns on. I've never quite understood why someone would think this was a good idea. The bathroom is not only for the use of the toilet.

I don't have a picture of Madi's room so I will just move on to mine. First we have the before pictures. Notice the lovely blue green carpet... (it's not quite as bad in the pictures)

And of course, my favorite: peach and green wallpaper chair rail...

I HAD to come up with a way to cover this up - without clashing with the carpet. So this is what I did...

You will have to image the colors a little bit better than this pictures portrays. I used a blue-green slate for the wall fabric, chocolate brown for the bed, and rust accents on the shelves and pillows. A few things you will have to overlook: the throw is suppose to match but doesn't right now, the unpainted side of the bookshelf (I may get around to this, I may not), and the missing art. The plan was to have three pieces of artwork hanging above the bed on top of the fabric so as not to overwhelm anyone with fabric everywhere, but it turns out the off center window I was covering up (yes, there is a window hidden behind all that) got in the way of picture hanging. I'm now in the process of looking for a new piece of art. Aside from that... what do you think? Much better than the chair rail, for sure!

I love this cute new home and already feel so comfortable in it! You will have to stop by sometime and visit me, but plan on a lack of seating for awhile ;-)

Leonardo and Deep Fried Twinkies...

On Friday, Jake and I explored The Leonardo; a contemporary science and art museum in Salt Lake, right next to the library. We've been wanting to find a fun museum in Salt Lake (our half-way point) to explore and this one was definitely a good choice. After enjoying the contemporary art and installations, we wandered over to the science side...

We had a lot of fun in this area as the camera picked up on our movements and reflected them as a skeleton on the computer.

One of the greatest pieces of art we saw was a wall of photos where people recreated pictures of themselves from the past. See exhibit A below.

Sooo funny. This one was one of the best. Jake and I may try this sometime with some old photos from our childhood... stayed tuned.

On Saturday we went on a double date with Jeff and Katy. Jake's first time at a State Fair. He was so excited to try the famous deep fried Twinkies. We tried a deep fried Snickers instead - not too bad actually (taste wise, that is. Definitely very 'bad' in the health aspect I'm sure). We had a fun time exploring and playing some of the games and we finally have another picture together! Yeah us!

White Rock...

Another rock climbing / rappelling extravaganza. We went out to White Rocks on the Dugway proving grounds (ya, we're probably getting radiation poisoning or something...). We climbed up the cliff about 200 feet and slept under a cliff overhang.

Of course we chose the weekend of the big thunderstorm that hit Utah - I heard there was golf ball sized hail in Davis county. We experienced the lightning closer than I've ever been. So close, in fact, that we couldn't see the "strikes" of lighting, or a flash of light in the sky. So close that our entire field of vision went stark white and we couldn't see for a moment afterwards. So close that the lighting and the thunder were instantaneous and shock the ground and the rock above use. So close that Jake was afraid we were going to get struck.

The next morning the weather was absolutely perfect. Here's the awesome group getting ready to head down (aside from Christin and I).

If you want to see a fun video compilation of our pictures and videos, click on this link Rappelling Trip

Here We Go...

Tomorrow begins the first day of the last year of my education. I start my senior year for my bachelor's degree. This time next year I will be done with college and working at an architecture firm in Salt Lake City (this is what I keep telling myself until it happens).

I'm nervous. I don't know what to do with myself. The senior year in the interior design program is intense. All I've heard from past students are horror stories, and yet I'm jumping in with both feet; and then some.

For the last couple of weeks I've been exciting and nervous all at the same time and it has caused some weird butterflies to fly inside. Regardless of how I feel - it all starts tomorrow. Deep breaths. I can do this. I can do this.

We're In Cahoots...

Jake and I competed in the Cahoots Duo Challenge last week (a 5k mud run with obstacles). It was a blast!

We decided to dress like the Hunger Games characters in training so we ordered these awesome shirts online - the same shirts Katniss and Peeta wore while training for the games. We figured since they won those games, our shirts might give us a little advantage to winning these games ;-)

A few of the obstacles included mud pits, balance beams, a 10 foot wall to climb over, tires to run through with your leg tied to your partner's, a cargo net to climb over, etc. You got more points for teamwork, costumes, and overall spirit.

Our absolute favorite obstacle... the zip-line. We stood in line long enough to watch 99% of people fail...

Most people looked like this...

And most didn't even make it halfway. But Jake and I? We rocked that zip-line! Even got an ovation at the end. 

Although the event wasn't organized super well, we enjoyed the challenge and the adventure together.

And we'll probably come back again next year - check out these stellar medals we got at the end! Ya, they are magnetic and attach to your partners. So sweet.

Paddle Boards...

There was a single's ward activity last weekend up at Bear Lake. Jake and I went... just not exactly with the ward. We decided that instead of waiting in a line of cars for an hour just to pay $5 to park, squish on one little beach, and hang out with awkward single's (those whose reasons for being single are easily determined), we would enjoy the lake on our own terms...

So we went paddle boarding! :-) It was crazy fun! I did fall off once on account of high winds and waves, but I eventually got the hang of it. The best part? Learning how to dive! I've never been able to, and now that I'm 21 I'm embarrassed to learn - especially in a pool where other people can watch an awkward adult dive into a pool from her knees. A few weeks ago Jake and I had Dan and Sharli's pool all to ourselves and he took the opportunity to give me a few small knee dive lessons. It took a lot of convincing on his part because I was sure he would laugh at me and I was already embarrassed. Jake was very patient and did a very good job treating me like he probably did the three year old he taught in swim lessons ;-) 

Jake was very excited for me to have the chance to dive off a paddle board and it turns out it wasn't as difficult as I thought! He said I looked great!

If you're also having trouble diving, think of it as a handstand. That was the best advice I've ever received. **Thank you, Jake!**

Jake also fell once - however he deleted the incredible falling picture that I snagged and sent me this one instead. I guess it hurt his pride a little bit (pardon my finger in the way).

And finally we have another picture of us together! I think that brings us to a grand total of four after almost a year of dating... We're pathetic. 

We also sat on the beach and enjoyed Jake's lovely sunburn from last week's lake activity. It was another wonderful weekend spend with a wonderful boy :-)